


Crash and Burn

by Anonymous



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Angst, Assassination Attempt(s), Attempt at Humor, Codenames, Eventual Romance, Gun Violence, M/M, Romance, Seventeen make great assassins, Sexual Tension, Violence, based on Getting Closer by Seventeen, slow burn i guess, use of guns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:29:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23047039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: I know I'm gonna get hurt, but I can't stop nowI keep wanting youTill I crash and burnPleiades Corporation is one of the few underground companies that produces trained and bio-engineered assassins, the perfect, most capable killing machines that can execute any mission cleanly, quietly, and quickly. They are hired for all kinds of missions, for both the good and the evil and everything that ran in between. They work to spy, gather intelligence, kill their targets and never fail.Until they do.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 29
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Breathless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Careful, careful, or else I’m gonna be falling down down_   
>  _I want you breathlessly_   
>  _This dance, you’re getting closer_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lee Jihoon, Codename: Downpour

Pleiades wasn't always this bright.

Downpour can vividly remember a time when Luna's loud laughter wasn't what woke him up in the morning, or when he would always triple check whether Eros poisoned his coffee (again), or when Merlin cursing wasn't followed by loaded threats that were bound to blow up the company building literally within the same hour.

As it were, Downpour followed Luna's laughter to find the boys in the kitchen in a loud conversation about a movie they watched last night, another event that was not familiar to them before, clean and filtered coffee in one hand and the latest copy of the Daily Seoul tucked on his other arm.

"Mornin'," Jupiter grumbled from the other end of the table, watching the same scene with the same cynical gaze as Downpour. If Downpour didn't know better, he would have thought Jupiter was planning a murder of one of the loud boys where the body would turn up disemboweled and beheaded on their doorstep tonight, and he wouldn't even hide the fact that he was behind the killing. A similar incident had happened before, but the corpse wasn't anyone they knew. It had been effective, though. No one dared to cross Jupiter after that. For maybe two months, at least, until Eros got under his skin again.

Downpour did know better, however, and he knew that Jupiter was only downing his first cup of coffee, and two more cups were needed to elevate a fraction of his mood. The mission last night had proven difficult, (Of course, it was. It was a Jupiter mission, after all.) and even though everyone came back alive, the mission was only barely called a success.

"Pipe down little chicks. I don't want to have to call down sanitation if any murders happened before breakfast."

Two of the boys squeaked at the sound of the voice, chatters dying down immediately. Downpour raised a brow as the invader swooped down to take Jupiter's cup of coffee in front of him for a sip.

"Eros!"

"What are you doing out of the lab?"

Eros winked at the little group before turning to Jupiter for a kiss on his cheek if only to smoothen the crease on the latter's brows.

"Get your own cup next time," Jupiter said with a scowl but it's without bite. Looks like there will be no murders before breakfast after all.

"Seriously," Downpour told him, settling on the chair on the other side of Jupiter with his own cup of coffee. "It's rare to see you out of the lab this early in the morning."

Eros only raised his (Jupiter's) cup, as if that answered his question. Downpour wanted to press, but he knew Eros's silence was not a denial, but a stall. Downpour would have to wait if he wanted concrete answers.

The other boys tried resuming from where they left the conversation off, but Downpour could see all of them snatching star-struck glances at where Eros was seated. Eros was some sort of a legend around the company, but Downpour knew it was only because he rarely went out of the lab nowadays, stuck with some puzzle and experiments the company knew to trust only Eros with. His disappearance from the usual activities led people to believe of his greatness (made up or not), especially since there was still no news of the only other mystical figure in the company.

Downpour could laugh. If only they knew…

More of the boys poured into the kitchen-slash-pantry, more than one stumbling at the sight of Eros sipping Jupiter's cup on the table. At least one of them (Merlin) glared at Eros's way, gaining a wide smile from their senior as he passed by. Mornings were the only time they get to see even a shadow of almost everyone before they filed into their different departments and get deployed to whatever mission they had, so it's almost like a family reunion when most of them appeared in the room, each reaching for their own share of breakfast.

"This is nice," Eros quipped, finishing off Jupiter's coffee which was immediately replaced with another fresh cup as soon as the empty one hit the table. "God, I missed you, Pup," Eros said by way of thanks just as Timberwolf swatted his hands from taking the new cup from Jupiter again.

"I'll get you your own," Timberwolf told him, making Eros sing more of his praises as usual.

This set the atmosphere as the useless chatter filled the room. Even Lovecraft with his usual calculating gazes looked at ease as he was spreading jam on his bread on the enormous island by the counter where Finny was weighing fruits on his either hand. The other kids had a pot boiling for a huge serving of ramen fit for everyone, while the others were squabbling over the box of cereals on the cupboards.

So bright, Downpour lamented. He could hear Eros laughing silently in his head, crying _Oh, Wormin_ , over and over that he refused to meet the other assassin's eye.

A sunny morning usually gave way to a stormy night, or so Downpour believed, so he was not as swept with the group as the next assassin.

"Hey, Jupiter, what happened last night?"

Or stormy later mornings, Downpour corrected himself, directing his attention to Jupiter.

Only the trained eye can see the displeased tension by the way Jupiter curled his lips, but Rex had been the one to ask, a box of cheerios under his armpit, so Downpour could at least assure himself that the boy would walk out alive from breakfast. Jupiter had a soft spot for Rex, something the younger assassin took pleasure in taking advantage of.

"Something big by the looks of it," Luna, who had never had a sense of self-preservation, sang a little too happily as he chopped vegetables for their ramen. "Isn't it, Jupiter?"

Jupiter only needed to hum a response for the room's temperature to drop to a freezing chill. The chopping and squabbles halted, the room falling into an eerie quiet. Only the sound of Jupiter sipping his cup was heard, and the rest of the group except Eros stood in silence like the dead lined up and awaiting judgment from hell.

Now _this_ was the Pleiades Downpour remembered.

It was reminiscent of the time when Pleiades was only starting, a new established scientific branch of the underground assassins program. There had only been a handful of them then, guns doing the talking more than their mouths. And the guns were not necessarily aimed at their given targets. Downpour was one of those whose gun aimed too loosely and got his brains blown because of it. The directors thought the branch was bound to fail.

To consider Pleiades a success was far-fetched. Downpour knew of the many sacrifices the company had to go through to achieve what they currently have. Sacrifices and a miracle. Just one.

Timberwolf hadn't been present when Jupiter's mood dipped so no one can blame him for babbling about missing ingredients and grocery runs they had to make as he made way to the table, focusing on balancing the cup with a generous amount of whip cream in his hand which he placed in front of Eros.

"Ah, my dear Pup, you're the best," Eros chirped loudly, dispelling some of the tension hovering in the air as he took a whiff of the coffee he was served. "Want some?" he asked Jupiter beside him who regarded him, his expression warming a little.

Maybe one other purpose Eros had was this, preventing Jupiter from going on a killing spree, and one Downpour was grateful for.

Everyone, Luna included, apparently all had a smidge of sense of self-preservation as they waited for Jupiter to snag the cup from Eros and take a sip. Knowing Eros, he probably already slipped a dose of his calming drug on the coffee, too familiar with Jupiter's mood swings. The one sip meant Jupiter knew, too.

Downpour didn't miss the single peanut sailing an arc above their heads from across the long end of the kitchen island to hit Luna right in the middle of his forehead making him yelp.

Everyone was startled into laughter, and even more so when Jupiter swiped a finger filled with whipped cream on Eros's cheek earning him a shriek that meant _death_.

Eros's chair creaked in alarm as their head scientist stood on it and declared "FOOD FIGHT!" just as everyone reached for their food weapons to throw.

Downpour's complaints of the brightness of Pleiades were eclipsed by the echoes of laughter and cries from people getting hit by eggs (fried, scrambled, omelet-ed and raw), spam, and all sorts of fruit. Timberwolf and Nero made a fortress with the chairs as they empty the overflowing baskets of fruits in the middle of the island while Merlin hold them off with the newly made waffles (and his screaming) he managed to swipe before the former two staked their claim on the fruits. Rex and his unlimited ammo of cheerios were an annoying combination topped with the boy's scarily accurate aim, pelting everyone with cereal that would definitely make for an awkward bruise that will be a pain to explain.

Someone was still had it going with the peanuts. Another one was digging into the cupboards, flinging them open and blindly throwing the first thing his hand reached. Someone got a hold of pancake mix and was coating the room with banana-flavored flour. Downpour was running out of things to throw so he hid behind the safe corner where no food was bothering Jupiter who caught a maniacally cackling Eros in a headlock.

"Hey! No knives!" Finny yelled when someone (probably, Luna. It's most likely Luna.) threw a knife that stuck on their wall.

The alarm cut through their noise as did the sprinkler someone (Timberwolf) accidentally set off.

"Someone protect the ramen!" Timberwolf cried, and Nero immediately jumped to stand over the pot of ramen like a human shield while Rex came over with the pot cover. Everyone cheered like champions when the ramen was saved.

Jupiter looked like he was still in good spirits when Eros tugged him away from the mess, leaving the younger ones to clean up, but not before Eros nodded towards Downpour, a silent command Downpour was too happy to oblige.

"Hurricane," Downpour called, and one of the louder boys leaned back from where he's seated on the counter to look at him. "Dance with me."

Hurricane grinned, crazed but obedient, and he minutely evaded being pushed off the counter with the speed he went hopping towards Downpour.

"Don't get killed," someone yelled after him before they disappeared out of the room.

"I'll see you at lunch, Finny!" Hurricane promised, then rushing to match Downpour's strides.

"What's with you and the peanuts, you damn hamster?" Downpour asked as they entered the elevator at the end of the hall. He poked the button to one of the lowest floors of the building, feeling Hurricane vibrate beside him.

Hurricane laughed and leaned on the other side of the box they were trapped in. "But it worked! I knew Eros's magic drug needed at least a minute before it worked so I had to think of a distraction. He's more volatile than I expected, though."

"Jupiter's program is one of the very first that's written. Eros says there's this layer of code on it that doesn't allow it to-"

"I meant Eros," Hurricane interrupted. "Eros is the volatile one."

Downpour laughed. "True."

The elevator dinged to announce their arrival to their floor. Hurricane filled their short voyage to the training grounds with a horribly visual recap of their food fight, highlighting his own weaknesses and blind spots and ended with the promise that he will do better in the next one.

"I really don't want another one," Downpour told him, sizing the wooden poles hanging on the walls.

Hurricane cleared his throat.

"Hm?" Downpour asked just as he was about to reach for the one of poles.

"I was thinking maybe we can use other weapons…"

Downpour raised a brow at him.

"You don't have to always hold back against me, you know."

This time, Downpour did pluck the pole from the wall. "What makes you think I hold back against you?"

Hurricane eyed the pole in answer.

Downpour huffed a laugh. "Do you really want me to rain on you with my bullets?"

"Ah." Hurricane seemed to take that into consideration. "A handicap then. Just one gun?"

Downpour grinned. "Well."

Hurricane perked up at the tone, skipping towards where the more advanced weapons were kept in glass cases, those bladed and definitely not wooden.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Huh?"

Downpour dropped the pole. He reached behind his jacket where he had his favorite glocks strapped, one for each hand, and fired.

"What the-"

It was barely enough time for Hurricane to reach for any weapon, but Downpour had aimed for a near case and it exploded with shards of glass. Hurricane lunged for the first ones he can reach, a pair of Sai, Downpour mused, before Downpour launched another wave of bullets.

"THIS IS NOT THE FIRING RANGE!" Hurricane reminded him as he ran madly away from Downpour's aim that only made Downpour laugh. Like he cared?

Hurricane was one of the slower assassins, biding his time analyzing and strategizing before attacking with deadly precision that would surely serve its purpose. His reaction time was about 3 seconds longer than the regular assassin, but he always made up for what he lacked in speed with his enthusiasm. Downpour had already Hurricane's fighting style memorized to let him do some thinking.

Then again, Hurricane knew how his mind worked, too.

Or how it _didn't_ work.

Hurricane called his technique reckless and mindless, which Downpour truthfully didn't see any insult in while Eros pushed a button on his computer in his anger that shut down Hurricane the rest of the day. Downpour just wasn't big on strategy like his thinking counterparts were. He _did_ think, contrary to what Hurricane might… well, think, but he let his hands do their work first. His analysis came with how his enemies reacted to him and his pistols.

And knives.

And bombs.

And anything Downpour can lay his hands on, really.

His targets never knew what hit them after he's done with them. He would leave a whole area razed, piles of corpses their faces serene and devoid of even surprise, his bullets finding their lethal place in their bodies before they can react. If the company wanted a quick job with no regard of how it was done, Downpour was their best bet.

Hurricane was for the carefully planned attacks, with layouts and the blueprints that he himself would get done. Then even on the field, Hurricane would watch his target with careful attention before going for the blow.

One _perfect_ blow.

Their difference in technique made them good practice partners, always learning from each other, and seeing how the other's mind worked. It made for a good evolution, and Eros said their codes would adapt to each other as they unlock new skills after skill.

So maybe it made sense when Hurricane threw one of his sai at Downpour in one reckless Downpour-esque attack, seeing that Downpour won't let up with his shooting. It caught him by surprise, rolling sideways to duck, Hurricane following him close behind.

Hurricane had an advantage on close combat with his weapon, and the boy had always had a talent with all sorts of weapons, Eros having yet to figure out what weapon Hurricane wasn't good with. Downpour, however, had all his years as a more senior assassin in his belt, so he wasn't going to lose even without a weapon of his own.

(Maybe Downpour had a boot knife which he could use, but Hurricane didn't have to know that.)

When Hurricane had him cornered on a wall, the three points of the single sai almost drawing blood by the curve of his jaw, Downpour dropped his pistols.

"Good dance," Downpour grinned, pushing Hurricane's shoulder on the spot where his bullet grazed him.

Hurricane groaned catching his wrist.

"What?" Downpour asked, feeling pinned against the familiar tiger gaze. (Eros said Hurricane had mastered this gaze that made targets sputter out truth more easily, although he rarely used it on missions to make way for some of their other assassins', like Lovecraft's, penchant for torture.)

Hurricane only looked on at him before he retracted his weapon and leaned down that Downpour felt himself stiffen despite himself. But Hurricane only sliced the bottom of his jeans, grazing the skin without injuring it, and bent to unsheathe Downpour's boot knife.

"I forgot," Downpour said when Hurricane gazed at him again, a reason he could get away with counting the many times he _had_ forgotten his stray knives strapped to his body, but he said that as a question and Hurricane only narrowed his eyes more at him.

"I said, don't go easy on me," he gritted his teeth.

"Are you angry, big guy?" Downpour asked, using both his hands to pat Hurricane's front, not intimidated at all with Hurricane's tone. "Because I was so sure I could have killed you 10 seconds ago with my eyes closed." His hands slowly glided up Hurricane's shoulder and made a tentative squeeze again on the graze.

This time, Hurricane only winced.

"But only because you fired before I was ready," he reasoned, tone lighter and a step farther from Downpour.

Downpour took the knife Hurricane offered by the hilt and placed it back by his boot where it belonged. "I always fire when my targets are not ready, sweetheart. Get used to it."

Hurricane frowned. "Fine. That's what, 13 to 10?"

"You totally lost that one last time," Downpour accused.

"Fine," Hurricane grumbled as he used his feet to swipe the shards of glass on the floor to gather them in one corner. Downpour only crossed his arms and watched him. "14 to 9, then."

"Finny hates you, by the way," Hurricane said after a few moments of silence.

Downpour chuckled. "It's not my fault you always get injured."

When Hurricane stared at him, Downpour laughed again. "Okay, so it's _partly_ my fault. But you really have to be careful next time. And look at what you're doing right now. It's a recipe for injury. Tell Finny to give you knee and elbow pads next time."

Hurricane only scrunched his nose. "This is probably why they never put us together in a team."

Downpour scoffed but said nothing.

"You can probably ask Eros," Hurricane said, still shoving the glass shards by his foot to one corner.

"Ask Eros what?"

"To put us together in a team."

Downpour frowned and refrained from saying that _he_ could ask Eros that. "Eros has no say in the missions, you know that."

"But he can convince Jupiter who does," Hurricane grinned at him as if he just came up with a brilliant idea.

"Jupiter is not swayed like that," Downpour said but he doesn't sound certain himself. Was Jupiter swayed like that? Would he be swayed like that? By Eros? "Can you stop that?" he reprimanded Hurricane who stopped his work with the scattered glass to walk towards him.

"Oh come on!" Hurricane cried, throwing his arms in the air. "Don't you see how they look at each other? They're always so fond with heart eyes it's just _eughh_." Hurricane gave a full body shudder. "Sickening."

Downpour tried to think back if what Hurricane said was true, but his brain refused to overanalyze what he was seeing between Eros and Jupiter without enough data provided. "You know more than me," Downpour muttered with a shrug.

"What?" Hurricane asked and he's suddenly crowding Downpour again. "Because I'm more human than you are?"

Downpour stared at him. An answer on its own.

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true."

Downpour looked up and found tiger eyes boring on him. Hurricane was significantly closer now that Downpour can count his individual lashes fanning over his cheek, the scent of sweat and a hint of pancake flour washing over him. The pink flush Downpour was eyeing by his cheekbones that appeared during and after their fight was already fading. Downpour breathed him in.

He'd crept up on me, Downpour thought, and wondered if Hurricane had gotten better in his sneak attacks or if Downpour had his guard low.

"Is that why you can't fall in love with me?" Hurricane asked.

_Be careful of this one, Hoonie_.

Downpour was saved from answering when they were interrupted by an incessant beeping sound of a pager. Hurricane stepped back and Downpour took a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Hurricane had a finger on his ear, and he was looking at a point past Downpour, probably reading a summons hovering on his vision that only he can see.

"Mission," he told Downpour, dropping his arm to his side. "Rex and I are going."

"Oh, good. He's been begging to be teamed up with you for weeks. At least now he can shut up about it."

"Well, I've been begging to be teamed up with _you_ so I hope I'll see you in the next one," Hurricane said and then he was gone with a salute, leaving Downpour alone in the training grounds.

He sent a message to Timberwolf about the damage they did to which the younger assassin replied with too many complaints on how he and Hurricane always, _always_ had to destroy something during training. But Timberwolf promised to get a team down to repair the grounds so Downpour excused himself and made his way to Eros's lab.

"Wormin! Good dance?" Eros asked as soon as he arrived at Eros's office in the lab that Downpour bit back a retort about tracking.

"He's asking if he can team up with me on a mission," he said in lieu of answering, knowing Eros knew fully well who he was talking about.

Eros scoffed dramatically, still typing something wildly in one of his computers. "He sent another hundred requests like that on my pager just now that I already have him blocked for the time being."

Downpour laughed. "You can't do that! What if there's an emergency?"

Eros looked up from his screen to glare at Downpour through his round-rim glasses. "Watch me."

Downpour was still laughing as he maneuvered through the tables until he reached Eros. For a person so smart, Eros should really do some cleaning and organizing, he thought. The tables were littered with papers and concoctions that Downpour didn't want to know what for. A lot of the cabinets are strewn open and there were even more piles of papers falling through.

Downpours looked through the windows of the office and found the lab outside in a much better state than this one. The other scientists never seemed to mind that Downpour just came and went as he pleased in the lab, even when he's sure there's tighter security here than in other places of the building.

"So?"

"Hm?" Eros asked without looking up. Downpour took the liberty of sitting on the free office chair beside him.

"What did you want me here for?"

"Ah," Eros said thoughtfully as if he didn't know Downpour's purpose in the first place. Downpour only humored him because he knew that was how Eros worked. "I thought you might want to know about Jupiter's mission."

Downpour cheered silently and rolled his chair closer to Eros's space in time to see Eros pull up the blueprints (Downpour cringed) and reports from Jupiter's mission.

"Who else were there?" Downpour asked, poking on one of the screens to scroll through the details of the mission.

"Suicide Squad," Eros whispered conspiratorially that Downpour narrowed his eyes at him.

"Your suicide squad changes every, what, 3 missions or so. I can never catch up."

Eros cracked up, punching buttons on his keyboard until four profiles of their assassins covered the 4 screens in front of them. "Jupiter, Lovecraft, Timberwolf, and Merlin. I'm sure Rex wanted to hop on the team, but they forced him back. It was too dangerous."

"But they let Merlin join!" Downpour cried, obnoxiously zooming in on Merlin's face until the screen was showing only the blow up of his left eye.

"He was just there to observe I think," Eros waved a hand in dismissal, clicking a button to un-zoom the screen back to normal. "Backup, Jupiter said. Good thing, too. Baby Merlin pulled them out before everything went to shit."

Downpour hummed as he skimmed through the summary of the report of the mission. Infiltration of the castle, _blah blah blah._ Some unknown electromagnetic activity of a large scale _yada yada yada_. A plan to develop biological weapons…

"This… I've read this mission summary before," Downpour realized, scrolling through the document faster. He looked sideways to find Eros with his secret smile on the screens.

"Of course you have," Eros said just as another document appeared on Downpour's screen. "It was your mission before."

Downpour sank in his seat at the revelation. "I thought the mission tanked. The Crown Initiative was shut down after that, and then…"

He saw Eros's iris flick towards him curiously before replacing his gaze back forward. "And then what?" Eros prompted.

Downpour pressed a finger between his brows to calm the brewing headache.

The mission he had been sent to before was a solo, and he had failed miserably, clawing back to the headquarters with barely enough consciousness for his mission report. Finny and Nero patched him up nicely as well as his collaterals with Eros in the background screaming at everyone to keep him alive, and… that's about it. The higher ups said Downpour had done enough damage to delay the progress of the Crown Initiative, and that no more missions would be entertained regarding the royal side of politics. Since Downpour's contribution was significant even though the original objective of the mission was not realized, the mission was called a success, but not without its own dirty secrets.

So to have Jupiter _himself_ and three other boys clamber back to dirty their hands with the Royalty…

"I thought we buried him," Downpour whispered after a while.

"Yeah, well," Eros shrugged, pushing his chair back so he can twirl himself around. "Not buried enough, apparently."

Eros stood up with his back straight so suddenly that Downpour jumped in his seat.

"There's a breach," Eros breathed, eyes wild and searching through his windows.

Downpour stood up, too, alert and wary, but a little doubtful. "That's impossible. The alarms would've picked up-"

Downpour swallowed his next words when Eros caught the knife that was supposed to impale Downpour with his bare left hand. The knife hovered over his neck and Downpour made a choking sound as he watched the blood coat the blade and drip _. Drip. Drip_. Eros dropped the bloodied knife which clattered on the floor with a broken sound. He did not even look at his wound.

Eros stood in front of Downpour that Downpour missed where the invader came from. Surely, he could _not_ have come through Eros's front door.

"Door's unlocked," the stranger said with a happy shrug, another knife balanced on a gloved hand. "Fast as always, Eros."

"You have to do better than that to faze me, Onyx," Eros drawled.

Onyx? Downpour thought as he peered over Eros's shoulder.

That couldn’t be _Onyx_?

Downpour had very vague memory of Onyx, having been in training while the other was already an assassin, although still relatively new. He only knew of Onyx from the whispered rumors he heard from his fellow trainees, but even the rumors never matched.

The other man on the other side of the table was lean and tall, as tall as Eros, clad in black leather jacket and black leather pants that must have covered the knives and guns and whatever other weapons he had strapped all over his body. His face was masked with black cloth on that covered most of his face except for his left eye which was looking around the room in respectful curiosity. He didn't look weighed down by weapons or his clothes as he glided closer, each step filled with grace and finesse. His dark pupil flitted over Eros's shoulder to Downpour and he felt himself shiver.

"Is this the famous Downpour?" Onyx sang. "I imagined him, _ah_ , a bit taller."

Downpour almost rolled his eyes. Almost. He can still feel the ghost of the kiss of the blade on his Adam's apple, an attack he could never have predicted and would have costed him his life if Eros was not around.

"I was taller," was what he grumbled instead.

Eros sighed, sounding exhausted, but when he spoke the next words, his voice was soft. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, my rose."

Downpour breathed sharply knowing he was _not_ supposed to hear that, but Eros only laughed, seemingly convinced that the company's ghost legend Onyx was not about to kill his subordinate. Downpour wondered how much Eros trusted Onyx, however, because Eros waved his hand over the screens which locked themselves with a code that would take the most brilliant minds of the company _ages_ to decrypt.

Onyx plopped himself gracefully (How does one plop gracefully?) on the last office chair near the table. He pulled away his mask to reveal such a pretty face for a legendary assassin. He had big doe eyes that were filled with a warm innocent glow that could fool anyone, a sharp nose and a gentle smile. Pleiades' most accomplished assassin should not be _this_ beautiful, Downpour grouched.

"I heard they demoted you. You're not allowed to go on missions anymore," Onyx told Eros as he made himself comfortable.

"Demoted?" Downpour snorted and watched Onyx's pretty features twitch in amusement. "He gets the easy part of the job. Just sitting here and letting his brain run wild. It's a promotion, basically."

Onyx raised a perfectly manicured brow in curiosity. "Is that so? That's not what the Boss said."

Eros maintained an easy grin on his face. He was slouched on his chair between his two guests, twisting his chair in a rhythmic side to side motion. "You informed Boss of your arrival?"

"I imagine he wanted to be informed. He summoned me, back after all."

"Summoned back?"

Onyx tilted his head to gaze at Downpour. He had his hands neatly folded together on top of his knee crossed over the other leg. He was a picture perfect scene that Downpour wouldn't have doubted he sat on a throne before. And that gaze…

Downpour stared back. The gaze Onyx gave him was intense, _icy_ , but it was still nothing compared to Hurricane's piercing tiger gaze.

"How much do you trust this little one?" Onyx asked Eros without breaking eye contact with Downpour.

"With my life," Eros replied without missing a beat.

The answer made Onyx smile, and although it looked sweet, a slight upward curve of the tips of his lips, it also seemed sinister.

"Jeonghan."

Downpour winced.

"Joshua."

Onyx, _Joshua_ , laughed, although Downpour was not sure what was so funny. "I haven't seen Coups on my way here. I heard he had a mission last night. He must still be cranky about it."

Eros shrugged.

"You're hiding him," Onyx noted with a hint of excitement, his mouth stretching into an even more frightening grin. "What happened last night?"

" _Jupiter's_ code needed refreshing. I'm not hiding him. I'm rebooting him so he needs walls and security at the moment," Eros said smoothly although he emphasized Jupiter's name at the beginning that Downpour's head began swirling. "If you want, I can walk you to his containment."

"Aw. I was really hoping you were hiding him so we could have those tiny fights we had before," Onyx cooed.

"Onyx."

" _Jeonghan_."

Eros frowned at the mention of his name before sighing in resignation. "You just said so. I was demoted. I'm not allowed to fight until further notice."

" _What_?" Downpour exclaimed in a breath, looking at Eros who refused to look at anywhere else but Onyx. " _Why_?"

"I imagine because he meddled too much with one mission or the other, saving one life or the other, something like that," Onyx mentioned a little too happily.

"Don't give me too much credit," Eros muttered, looking highly displeased.

Onyx directed his smile at him. "You should wash that."

"Huh?" Eros blinked and glanced at his bloody hand, frowning when he remembered his injury.

"I know it's already closed up but I would rather you still clean it up. Washroom is this way," Onyx told him, smile easy and playful as he pointed to the door behind him.

Eros stood glaring at him for a beat before he moved to the door Onyx gestured to. "Don't destroy his shell, Joshu. It's hard to look for a body that can keep up with his code," he said as he passed Onyx who only laughed.

"Just say he's your favorite and go, Jeonghan," Onyx said, twirling on his chair to push Eros towards the door.

Eros was still mumbling what sounded like complaints even as the door closed behind him.

"Okay! Now we can have some fun." Onyx reached for the keyboard nearest him and began typing. Downpour felt an ounce of satisfaction when the computer denied him.

"Huh," Onyx said which sounded like a frown, but a smile still lit up his face. "He changed even the codes for the secret training grounds. I wonder…" The smile was still present but the gaze that slid towards Downpour was icy. Then he shrugged, tapping his right ear twice.

"You can't _already_ be in the server."

"Jeonghan, how do you access your training grounds?" Onyx asked into his pager, ignoring Downpour.

"Button under the table, got it!" Onyx felt for the button on the underside of the table, rolling his chair until there's a click and a hiss, and Downpour gaped as the office folded into itself. The windows darkened, the tint completely blocking the view from the scientists outside the office; the floor opened up to swallow tables that housed screens and machines and test tubes with solutions Downpour can only hope would not explode; and the smaller more separate objects such as the chairs and the knife that almost killed Downpour still on the floor just disappeared altogether.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" Onyx said, walking around the now empty room. "Jeonghan developed some sort teleportation code for smaller objects, but it was still unstable before I left. Glad to see him still working his genius."

Downpour only watched him warily, hand behind him in case he needed to access his guns quickly. He thanked his insight to replenish his bullets before going to Eros's office earlier.

"And the server! That reminds me!" Onyx exclaimed suddenly that Downpour clutched his glock in anticipation without unstrapping it, but Onyx only tapped his ear again where his pager would be activated.

Downpour felt his own pager vibrate. Then he cried out when he felt a zap of electricity from his ear ripple through his whole body making him drop on one knee in pain. He clutched his right ear at the sensation but it was already subsiding. He glared at Onyx.

"Being Jeonghan's first friend means I have access to whatever he has access to. So of course, I'm already in the server," Onyx announced as he skipped towards Downpour. "Which also means I can cut _you_ out from the server. Temporarily, of course. Jeonghan won't want you out of reach for too long. But don't worry, we won't take too much time."

"What for?" Downpour gritted, shaking himself out of the uncomfortable electric sensation as he tried to stand.

"So you can't call out for help, silly," Onyx laughed, then lunged.

Downpour was able to parry Onyx's first swipe at him with a knife he hid under the sleeve of his jacket, but it seemed that Onyx anticipated even that. He allowed the recoil of his blade guide him when he spun and slashed at Downpour's less dominant hand. Downpour blocked the arm with his and used the momentum to attempt to flip Onyx. Onyx only slipped back without difficulty, dropping down to slide his leg to catch Downpour off balance. Downpour flipped back and threw his knife blindly, and as he went, he saw Onyx's eyes grew wide in surprise as he stood up. He used the opportunity to fire bullets around Onyx as his knife sailed towards the shoulder Downpour hoped to injure.

Onyx dropped flat on the floor, evading all attacks at once then pounced like a viper. Slick, speedy and efficient. Downpour only had time to flick his wrist to catch another knife for him to use before he was being pushed backwards.

"That was really impressive! You totally did not calculate that, did you?" Onyx quirked as he attacked, this time looking more effortlessly than he was before.

"Someone told me my attacks are mindless."

"Helps being unpredictable, I see!" Onyx bounced from one side to the other, attacking and evading at the same time. "Have we fought before, though?"

"I doubt that," Jihoon muttered as he let his knife skitter off his hand, and watched Onyx's eye follow the distraction before he glided away to give him more room between them.

"Oh!" Onyx exclaimed when he found the growing distance between them that he closed up just as quickly. "I was wrong to underestimate you, little rain."

Downpour reminded himself to breathe through his nose as his knife kept crashing against Onyx's. "Do you always talk too much in battle?"

"Of course!" Onyx chirped. "My opponent's mental capacity to attack decreases when they respond. Talking requires breathing as much as attacking."

Downpour bit back a curse. Onyx was not running after his breath even as he spoke, having mastered the art of talking during battles, apparently, while Downpour continued to steady his breath in a rhythm.

"Ah, there we go!" Onyx beamed.

Downpour felt his blade snap into pieces at Onyx's last attack, realizing too late that it was Onyx's initial purpose for his attacks. Downpour felt for another gun which he fired as soon as he regained his footing.

"This is fun~."

Onyx only seemed to dance away from Downpour's aims, gaining distance as he went.

When Downpour counted down to his last few ammo, he knew the seconds he would use to reload would cost him so he took a step back.

Onyx grinned as if he knew exactly was Downpour planned. Downpour watched the deadly precision with which he threw his knife, akin to what he must have down right after he entered Eros's office. This time, however, there was no Eros to save him.

The knife met another metal with a _clang!_ clattering noisily away from Downpour.

"Oh? You're a new one. I haven't seen you around here before," Onyx said and it was only then Downpour realized he closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he found himself standing behind Hurricane whose knife deflected the one that was supposed to kill him.

"How did you get in here?" Onyx asked.

"I was paged," Hurricane spat.

"Playtime is over?" Onyx asked again just as the door where Eros disappeared to opened. Onyx must have locked him out of his own lab for him to look upset.

"I told you not to destroy his shell, idiot," Eros grumbled, immediately making his way to Downpour to assess the damage. Downpour winced as Eros turned over his hands and arms, only seeing how much cuts and bruises he sustained from the fight.

"I didn't _destroy_ it. See, he's still standing."

Eros shot him a glare which only made him laugh.

"And who's this one? He's almost as fast as you are, Eros, it surprised me," Onyx mused, looking at Hurricane with heightened interest.

"Can I kill him?" Hurricane growled as he watched Eros clean some of the cuts on Downpour's hands with an antiseptic wipe.

Downpour gave him a pointed look which hopefully delivered his message of _How do you think you can kill him if I almost got killed battling him, dumbass?_

Hurricane tsked, and looked away.

"This is Hurricane," Eros introduced without looking away from Downpour's hands. "Hurricane, Onyx."

Hurricane had always been a fan of the mysterious Onyx, awed by the stories that make up the legendary assassin and his long-term mission that had him disappearing from the Pleiades before. Downpour expected him to bawl or apologize at the introduction but Hurricane only scrunched his nose.

" _Hurricane_ ," Onyx said slowly as if savoring the taste of the name in his mouth. "I really have never heard of you, which is new to me. Who named you?"

That took Hurricane by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Who gave you your codename?" Onyx clarified but that only seemed to confuse Hurricane more. "For example, I named my rose." He gestured to Eros who only glared at him. "And he named some of your friends. Timberwolf is one, I think. This gives him control over them, as I have control over him."

" _Onyx,_ " Eros warned.

"But once you have defeated the one who named you in battle, then their control over you is severed. You are only bound to them when they call you by your real name."

Downpour watched Eros stiffen, while Hurricane stood in front of him like a proud shield.

"So who named you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hurricane snapped at him.

" _Interesting_. You don't know who named you, which means the company has no plans to relinquish control over you. Interesting, interesting."

"Hurricane, take Downpour to the infirmary so they can see to his wounds, please," Eros interrupted.

"I really want to kill him," Hurricane muttered, even as he turned to grab Downpour to drag him out of the room but Downpour stood his ground.

"Eros."

Eros regarded him. "I'll be fine," he said, knowing exactly what Downpour had in his mind. "He doesn't own me anymore."

"Unfortunately," Onyx sighed, but it's still with a smile so Downpour cannot fully feel assured.

Eros stared at him some more, and his command rang in Downpour's ears, a painful roaring through his mind. Downpour shook his head to clear his thoughts, and Eros withdrew his hold on him.

Downpour was about to let Hurricane manhandle him out of the room when Onyx spoke again, "When's your deadline, Hurricane? For your next mission?"

"Why do you care?" Hurricane growled without looking at him.

"Well, because I'll give you a mission with Downpour after. Would you want that?"

Downpour can almost see Hurricane perk up even when Hurricane stood behind him. He looked up to find Hurricane's eyes with interest laced with suspicion, his gaze still filled with murderous intent.

"I'll think about it," Hurricane said finally.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Onyx said, his grin soft and dangerous. "Boss has already been informed."

"You can't just bypass Jupiter-"

"Of course I can!" Onyx claimed cheerily. "Jupiter and I are Chief of Command. Eros was, too, before he was demoted."

"Can you stop telling the kids that," Eros grumbled, his head dropped in his hand in embarrassment.

Downpour can sympathize with Hurricane's confusion.

"Anyway, I've already arranged for a mission for the two of you." Onyx waved his hand. "The summary will be provided after your deployment to your current mission, okay?"

Hurricane did not offer him a response and only led Downpour out of the room and into the hall. Downpour let himself breathe.

The silence followed them even in the elevator where they met Luna and Finny who were on their way to the training grounds. Finny eyed the cuts on Downpours hands and only said that Nero was the one on duty in the infirmary.

Downpour frowned. Nero was fussy.

When they were alone in the elevator again, Hurricane asked, "Do you really think Jupiter will let us in a mission together?"

"I don't think he can revoke Onyx's command especially if the Boss already knows about it," Downpour answered.

Hurricane sighed. "Everything is suspicious about that Onyx, though. I liked him better when he was only a story."

That made Downpour laugh.

"Who do you think named me?" Hurricane asked a little later.

"Downpour," he probed when Downpour remained silent.

"I can't say," Downpour said finally.

Hurricane eyed him. "You mean you know."

Downpour nodded.

"But you can't say?"

"I'm not allowed to. Eros won't allow me to."

"Eros won't…" Hurricane repeated in a murmur. "He named you?"

Downpour nodded again.

"And have you defeated him yet?"

Downpour gave him a glare. "Eros defeated both Jupiter _and_ Onyx before. You think _I_ can defeat him?"

Hurricane shrugged.

They passed by some trainees along the way, most of them immediately clamping their mouths silent and turning their gaze downwards at the sight of their seniors. Some, though, beamed and bowed with enthusiastic respect when Hurricane called them, slapping them high fives and shouting encouragements about their training.

Downpour remained largely ignored. Just how he liked it.

"Wait a minute!" Hurricane exclaimed, stopping them before they reached the entrance to the infirmary. "This means all of us are under mind control? These people who named us are controlling us?"

Downpour punched him for being too loud. "No, idiot. Control was only done like that before, when the code was first written and assassins were unstable. But the code had evolved, assassins were trained, and control was lightened. It's more of a conscious command now than anything."

"So if Eros commanded you to kill me…"

"I do it without question," Downpour said, and smiled at Hurricane's sudden nervous energy. "Relax. Eros is usually loose in his control. Imagine being named by the Boss. That would be horrible."

"Really? Who were named by the Boss?"

"Onyx. Jupiter."

Hurricane shivered. "That _is_ horrible. Did they ever defeat Boss?"

Downpour chuckled. "Of course. Jupiter defeated him the first 5 seconds he was created. Onyx's story is less spectacular but he had already defeated the Boss."

"Wow. Those two are scary as fuck."

"Tell me about it."

They entered the infirmary. Downpour allowed Nero to fuss over him despite the cuts having already healed. Nero told him to have his code re-checked when he mentioned about his pager and they were out of the infirmary in no time.

"Dinner?" Hurricane asked and there's a bounce to his gait.

Downpour looked at him.

"Yes," Hurricane said slowly with an almost shy smile. "Like a dinner date."

Downpour sighed. "You know this will never work out, right?"

"Is that a yes?"

Downpour rolled his eyes. "I don't even have a heart. I'm just a machine, Hurricane."

"You're not," Hurricane assured him. "You're a weird human with some weird code in your brain and a weird machine for a heart keeping you alive. But you're just about human as I am."

Downpour was unimpressed. "I don't own this body," Downpour reminded him. "You own yours."

"That changes nothing. Dinner? Come on. I insist."

"What if I ask Eros to forbid me to go with you?"

Hurricane gasped, genuine panic in his eyes. "You would never! You know how Eros hates me."

Downpour chuckled. He did not bother correcting him about Eros. "I won't. Fine. Dinner."

The bright smile that bloomed on Hurricane's face was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Going anonymous for a while to match the mood of the story hehe. My vision for this story is Getting Closer. It has haunted me ever since and it's only now that I managed to pen a story for it. I forgot to describe how the boys look like, what their uniforms are, so just think Getting Closer. ;)
> 
> I'm very curious if you guys can guess the members and their matching codenames! Thinking up codenames was really fun.  
> Hint 1: the codenames are related to the members  
> Hint 2: One member is not yet mentioned. Just to mix things up a bit.
> 
> I think a lot of them are already obvious. Especially hyung-line. Number of chapters are still tentative... Anyway. I really hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did. Would love to hear what you think!! See you guys soon!
> 
> Story title is from [Crash and Burn by Got7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hxKNpKITkM)  
> Chapter title is from [Getting Closer by Seventeen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr_lx0GSfrA)


	2. Damage Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Only by looking at your eyes I can tell_   
>  _Everything is good when just you are here_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeon Wonwoo, Codename: Lovecraft  
> Name given by Jupiter  
> Control: Disengaged

_There was a pair of eyes at the end of the room, a twinkle of a pair of light, unmoving, unafraid._

_'Hyung! Hyung! HYUNG!'_

Downpour wrenched himself free of the nightmare, and he woke up in buckets of sweat, muscles still shaking from the last tendrils of the dream curling around him.

It had been a few months since his last nightmare that he almost forgot he used to have them. Eros had already offered many times to write a code for him to keep them away, but Downpour refused. Those were the only times in his life he was ever afraid, and as pathetic as it sounded, Downpour wanted to keep having them if they were the only times he truly felt human.

Assassins used to dream before the perfection of the code. However, dreams were a distraction. They consumed the reserves of the mind, from subconscious to the conscious, therefore interfering with processing and cognition of the assassin. Dreams were suppressed by the code.

Assassins used to dream, but they never had nightmares. Not when they did not fear for their lives. Not when they feared nothing at all. Downpour had never dreaded for his last breath, or thought that one day he would expire. He never hesitated to pull the trigger to end lives of many whose names he never had to find out. Even when he knew their names, their families and their lives, Downpour never felt guilt when his knives would find spots in his target's body that would induce the most pain.

Assassins had no reason to have nightmares when they had nothing to fear.

_He had not feared for his life, no. He feared for another's._

Downpour rarely fell back asleep after a nightmare, so he would pad out of his room, and maybe look for Eros in his own. Eros used to extract the nightmare from his memory chip and analyze them, until Downpour realized they were repetitive and there was no sense to put effort into them. The next few times he had nightmares, he went to the training grounds instead.

That's where he met Hurricane for the first time.

Hurricane had been new four years ago, and had forced Downpour to the ground on their first spar. Downpour then pinned him down on the next in a pincer grip between his legs, Hurricane probably underestimating him afterwards.

It had been that way ever since. Every time Downpour dreamed of the he blades he threw raining back on him, of his bullets missing, of a high ceiling crumbling, and pillars falling over him, of running but never reaching, of screaming but never being heard; every time Downpour woke up in the ungodly hours, shaking and shamefully afraid, he would drag Hurricane out of bed to spar with him.

Hurricane found out about his nightmares, Downpour assumed he did, Hurricane always had a way of figuring things out, but he never asked about it and never complained… rarely complained… well, he complained all the time, but he always let himself be thrown into the motion of training, anyway. For that, Downpour was grateful.

Downpour hobbled out of his room to take the elevator to the training grounds, but he traced his steps to the lab the last second. The building itself never slept; assassins were allowed to train, practice, or research whenever they wanted, all the facilities at the fingertips. However, most of them still followed their regimen as trainees, sleeping early to wake early the following day. The lab was the only place constantly in motion. He hoped the bright lights, white walls and the busyness of the scientists would ease the muddle in his brain.

He shouldn't have been surprised when he found Eros there. Maybe he was even looking for him at the back of his mind. Maybe he hoped Eros would be there.

Eros had a blanket wrapped around him, his glasses askew, leaning back on his chair as he watched his screen. Downpour tried to approach him as quietly as possible, but Eros pulled a chair next to him without looking, and Downpour took the offer wordlessly.

"What are you doing?" Downpour asked conversationally, looking at the screens in front of him show a bunch of news and reports, scrolling upwards slowly, probably following Eros's reading pace. If there was a crack in his voice, Eros did not give an indication to have heard it.

"Decrypting a missive from the main branch," Eros muttered. "I'll be forwarding this to Jupiter in the morning. He will be meeting with other branches in a few days."

"Must be important. They requested for Jupiter?"

"No other."

"Hm."

"Nightmare?" Eros asked.

Downpour nodded.

"Hurricane still on the mission?"

Another nod.

"Want to pull it up for analysis?"

"It's the same since the first time four years ago," Downpour said. "No use."

"Want a blanket?" Eros extended his arm, and the blanket made a tent beside him, allowing a space for Downpour to huddle over which he did. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No, thank you."

"Whatever you say, Hoonie."

Downpour closed his eyes. He allowed himself to be Jihoon again, for the first time in a long time. "Thanks, hyung."

It's been a few days since Downpour and Hurricane's… well, date as Hurricane so merrily called it, and also a few days since Hurricane was deployed for his mission with Rex. Due of Onyx's prodding, Downpour found out that their deadline was in two weeks, the average duration of the missions usually given. Downpour thought the company would have granted them a leeway, perhaps a longer deadline considering Rex's fresh shell and code, but their faith on their newest senior assassin must be solid.

Downpour went through his routine, training on his own, and then monitoring the progress of some of their trainees. It was extra-work, and usually he had Hurricane to make the sessions bearable. Luna came with him instead, and without Hurricane to reign him back, Luna graded them mercilessly and made them train until past their appointed time.

"Better to prepare them for what's to come," Luna said defensively when Downpour stared him down. "You're becoming a softie, Downpour. You used to not care about the trainees."

"It won't matter because they will still be training tomorrow. Let them have tonight."

The trainees made sure to thank Downpour when they were dismissed earlier after the third day.

"I just want this over as much as you do," Downpour told them but they thanked him all the same.

In his spare time, Downpour tried to find more about the Crown Initiative. He should have had the foresight to keep that specific mission considering the situation before, but Downpour was never one to clutter his memory space for whatever reason. He would have at least archived in the cloud, but looking for it meant asking Eros for help which also meant going past Onyx.

How Downpour hated the turn of events at this point in time.

While deciding if it was worth the bother, he hogged a small lounge to himself with a few books he took from the Records Section. He had not gleaned much from his reading besides the well-known history of the Royalty. He was already considering checking the archives when Onyx found him.

He did not even flinch when Downpour pointed his gun at him. Not that Downpour saw. He still had his eyes on his book, refusing to acknowledge Onyx beyond his (petty) need for revenge.

"What are you reading?" The question was posed with a curious tone that anyone else listening would have thought about nothing else but to answer his question. It sounded so innocent that it gave Downpour all the more reason to be suspicious of him.

"None of your business," he snapped, cocking his gun. "Please go away before I bust your brains to a million pieces."

Onyx sighed, making himself comfortable on the arm of the couch opposite Downpour.

"I'll get to business immediately, then," Onyx started, looking far too undisturbed with the fact that he was two heartbeats away from having none. Downpour was so tempted to shoot him just to see what would happen. "Jupiter is meeting with the branches leaders of Andromeda. I saw the roster of assassins going with him and your name was not on the list. He's going here in a few minutes to ask you to volunteer and you're going to say yes."

Downpour did not let his gun drop. "I have no care for politics. My presence will not make a difference in that meeting."

"We don't know that yet," Onyx said in a low tone that Downpour almost missed it. "It's an experiment, Downpour. I'm trying to see something."

Downpour stared at him just as the gears in his brain started turning. "If this has something to do about Eros-"

"It has _nothing_ to do with Eros," Onyx said, only a little forcefully.

"I heard Eros was the one who released the list of assassins going with Jupiter. Do you want me to go with him so I would get killed _in mission_ rather than having to kill me yourself?! That's low! Even for you."

Onyx made a noise of irritation, the first time Downpour saw a negative emotion on his pretty face. "It would certainly be fun to see his reaction when he finds out you died after everything he's doing to protect you, but I'm sure the great Downpour would not fall in battle."

"Did you just compliment me?" Downpour blinked, a little dazed. Surprised.

"Say Eros is part of my little experiment…"

Downpour narrowed his eyes.

"I'm only wondering why he did not put you on the list. You have one of the highest stats in the company. Fastest next to him. Loyal to boot. If there's one person he trusts to protect Jupiter it would be you."

Downpour was sure he was being bought with compliments. "The main point of the meetings is diplomacy, and I'm sure my stats as the best assassin does not spell peace."

"Sure. If you say your presence won't make a difference, say yes to Jupiter."

"You know Eros holds my control. I won't go if he commands me to stay," Downpour said.

"Please." Onyx waved his hand. "We all know Eros does not do commands. He may very well waive his control the way he lets his named treat him."

"And you think insulting him will get me to agree?"

Onyx looked at him, expression serious. "How many shells do you have on you?"

"Enough to kill you," Downpour grinned, finger on his trigger, wondering if Onyx would mind if he used the annoyingly sickening smile on him. "Would you want me to demonstrate?"

"I don’t think so."

Another pistol poked Downpour from behind his head, and he turned to glare at Jupiter who only looked unimpressed.

"Drop your gun." Jupiter's tone of voice was casual, like he was asking his pet cat to stop playing with his dinner. Downpour glared at him some more. " _Downpour_."

"I'm sure Onyx is strong enough to defend himself without you meddling," Downpour huffed, then let his gun hang by thumb as he raised both hands over his head.

"I'm also sure you're going to be reported again for destroying property which has been annoying Timberwolf. He's been filing complaints, you know."

"For fuck's sake! I'm not messy!"

Jupiter eyed him, unimpressed, before sheathing his own gun. Then he turned his gaze to Onyx, who only tilted his head to Jupiter, one small motion of acknowledgement and amused thanks. "Stop causing trouble," Jupiter chided, sounding exasperated.

"Thank you," Downpour muttered under his breath.

"I wasn't," Onyx claimed with his sweetest smile. "Downpour's love language is his violence so I was actually very flattered."

Jupiter only stared at him, probably able to hear their previous conversation from a floor below, but he didn't say anything else and only regarded Downpour.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the couch Onyx was perched on.

"Help yourself," Onyx replied, smiling at Downpour who had his mouth open to answer.

Jupiter ignored both of them in favor of sitting down.

"You must know we have a shortage on shells," Jupiter began. "It's been going on for a while, but you're one of the two most affected. Merlin being the other one."

Downpour glanced at Onyx; the other assassin had asked about shells, and he knew exactly what Onyx asked for but he had deflected, not trusting Onyx enough.

"Shells burn when your code is installed," Onyx stated with a shrug. "Eros told me."

"Then he must have told you he doesn't want me going on unnecessary missions because there is a shortage on shells and I haven't had a backup since years ago," Downpour sniped at him, crossing his arms and letting his body drop back on the couch.

"Merlin is going to this mission," Onyx pointed out.

"Merlin is our _spy_. Best one there is. If there's anyone who's most qualified to be in this meeting with Jupiter, it's him."

"Second best," Jupiter blurted all of a sudden.

Downpour stared between Onyx and Jupiter in disbelief. "I _know_ Onyx named Merlin but I. Don't. Care. Just get to the point!"

"As trainees, one of our first missions was to secure shells for the assassins, which meant we should be sending more trainees out to the field," Onyx continued patiently.

Downpour nodded, unsure where this was going.

Shell-hunting, they called the mission as trainees, where they look for targets within a set of criteria: well-built, healthy-looking, preferably with little to no vices to lessen the risk of deterioration during the enhancement process, and with no long history or background. They should not have a family or friends, or anyone who would look for them after they… _disappeared_.

The trainees were given a location, did their own background check on their chosen shell, and planned their strike within a given deadline. They were deployed either in groups or solo, depending on the capability of the trainees, and were welcomed back in the company with a fresh corpse in tow. Preferably with all limbs intact. Eros used to always have headaches when trainees came back with dismembered shells, grumbling about surgeries that could have been avoided if the trainees were careful with their mission.

Downpour did not know when the tradition started, but their batch of trainees had all aimed for targets who were criminals as some sort of anti-hero story of their own writing. Plucking prisoners from inside jails was one of the harder jobs, having to proceed with the mission under the careful eye of the police; successful results always proving gratifying. Downpour's first shell-hunt was done in a prison in Busan.

Other trainees opted to kill criminals in action, mostly no-names involved in theft and murders, or those in bars who had nothing else to do in life but spend their life on alcohol and rape. There was a sense of satisfaction seeing the light in the eyes of those bastards go dim, especially with fear after who they think their victim would be slit their throat and watch them bleed.

"We have been low on shells for a long time since not all shells can sustain the code, and some disintegrate in the enhancing process so that's nothing new. What's worrying me is the other fact." Onyx crossed his leg over the other, assuming the regal posture he had when Downpour first met him. "Trainees we have been sending to shell-hunts have not only been coming back empty handed, but they have not been coming back at all."

"We lose trainees in shell-hunts all the time," Downpour pointed out. This was not news at all.

Jupiter shook his head. "Not this much. Have you read the reports? All the trainees we've been sending out for the past four months have not returned. Even the trainees we sent on search parties had been out of the range of our communication."

Trainees were sent out once every two to three weeks. If the hunt was solo, which was rarely, they would have already lost about eight trainees. There were likely more because of the search parties which were done in bigger groups.

The Crown Initiative had taken much of Downpour's attention that he had not busied himself with the affairs of the company. To be honest, Downpour had not cared much about the company's inner workings. It had long been stable under the Boss's leadership, so Downpour had not needed to care. Unless something threatened the balance they worked hard to achieve for so long.

The shells, or the corpses, plainly put, were the company's backbone. Whenever they lost an assassin on the field through Eros's L-pill, their code would be uploaded to the server, ready to be installed on another shell which will retain the assassin's skills, memory and consciousness. It also helped keep the assassin's identity secret, changing faces that would confuse anyone who targeted them. Merlin, their (second) best spy and master of disguise, used to change shells as often as he changed clothes. He had since settled on a shell with a petite body and a pretty but forgettable face.

All of them settled.

"What does this have to do with the meeting with the Andromeda leaders?" Downpour asked.

"Andromeda has always wanted to have our research on our shells," Jupiter answered. "Other branches don't have the same system as we do. They just train and replace assassins as they go."

Downpour startled. He did not know that.

Jupiter nodded, sensing his surprise. "It's not widely known. Pleiades wasn't meant to succeed, after all. We had to survive on the scraps of resources they gave us. Boss developed the code first with his crazy idea of reprogramming the brain of man, not just the body. Andromeda has already perfected the physical enhancements of the assassin through their bio-engineering tech. Pleiades was their shot to perfect the code for the mind."

"Shot is a very optimistic term," Onyx said. "They only gave Boss Pleiades to shut him up. He sounded crazy to them."

"He _is_ crazy," Downpour muttered. Both his leaders had excellent hearing even without their enhancements but they ignored him.

"We could not afford the same training and the same disregard for their assassins as they have. They can replace assassins as they wished. Assassins were disposable to them. We had to recycle ours. They were not expecting us to succeed. Now that we have, they want us to hand our research over. Especially now that our top tier assassins are on a higher level than theirs."

"What you're saying," Downpour continued for them. "Is Andromeda has a hand in the disappearances of our trainees."

"A hunch," Onyx said with a smile.

"And what. I'll be there… as a _mascot_?" Downpour asked, definitely incredulous.

"Like I said, you're the assassin with the best stats in the company. Fastest. Most unpredictable."

Downpour rolled his eyes. So this was what the compliments were for.

"What Onyx is saying," Jupiter glared at the assassin reclining on him. Jupiter pushed him back, none too gently but Onyx only laughed when he toppled over the floor. "Is we would have the advantage of surprise on our side should you come with us. You made a name for yourself most of the assassins in attendance would recognize by now."

"Because I'm _messy_."

Jupiter looked unimpressed.

"If I convince Hurricane to go, will you?" Onyx asked suddenly.

"What does _he_ have to do with anything?" Downpour heard his tone going an octave higher that Onyx laughed, still seated on the floor, while Jupiter had his eyebrows raised.

"Absolutely nothing," Onyx cried gleefully. "That would make it fun, don't you think?"

"Stop it," Jupiter scolded him with no heat that Onyx only laughed some more. "The meeting is tomorrow evening. Tell us what you think before then."

"Oh, I will definitely tell Hurricane. He is so much fun, tailing Downpour around like a lost puppy. _Adorable!_ Did you know he rescued Downpour from my knife?"

" _Joshua_."

Onyx only cackled and kissed Jupiter's cheek the way Eros would. Downpour wondered if the teasing was meant for him or more for Jupiter.

"What about the Crown Initiative?" Downpour asked before he can stop himself. Jupiter had been the one to lead the latest Royal mission they had. Surely he had opinions on the matter?

Jupiter quirked his eyebrow curiously in response. "What about it?"

Downpour looked at him.

Jupiter only shrugged. "Something about Intelligence, outdated data, outsource blah blah," he mentioned each word with an indifferent wave of his hands. He stood up. "I took care of it. Made sure it won't happen again."

Onyx snickered while Downpour gaped at him.

"You can't just _kill_ people from the Intelligence just because they gave you the wrong data!" Downpour exclaimed.

"Too late. I already did."

The two seniors left without so much as a good bye and Downpour was left alone feeling hollow. So much for keeping busy, he thought.

He found Lovecraft just exiting the Records Section, so focused on the game on his Switch that he passed by Downpour without a glance. Downpour decided to follow Lovecraft until the other assassin acknowledged him, and ended up following him into his quarters.

Downpour had a feeling he was lured there.

He had been into Lovecraft's quarters before, mostly invited, but the lack of conversation between them was beginning to wear on Downpour's thin patience.

"I already did some snooping," Lovecraft finally spoke when the door automatically slid close behind Downpour. Lovecraft hopped and plopped down lying on the bed, not once looking at his guest. It looked uncomfortable, most of his legs dangling on the side of the bed, but he didn't make a move to shift his position. Downpour decided he didn't care.

The room was an exact mirror of Downpour's own, designed only for the purpose rest: a box of white metal and glass with a bed, a long single blue-white fluorescent light in the middle of the ceiling, and a table and a chair; the cupboards and closets containing their clothes and weapons fitted into the walls, opening with a push of a button. Everything else was done outside the privacy of their rooms.

"The Crown Initiative and your mission years ago."

"When you said snooping, you meant you went through my code?" Downpour demanded, still standing in the middle of the room, fists curled beside him. He had a vague idea that their codes and therefore parts of their brains are connected to the server, making everything in the company interconnected. It made for easier tracking and taking down bogeys as necessary. Downpour was sure it was protected by an encryption so not everyone can access it, but if anyone can bypass military-grade security, it would be Lovecraft.

"Don't sound so horrified." Lovecraft's one eye took a millisecond off his screen to give Downpour a smug grin before flitting his focus right back he didn't see Downpour's glare. This bastard. Downpour wanted to punch his eyepatch off if he didn't knew that would put him at a disadvantage. "Relax. You look like a maiden whose chastity has been thrashed. Don't worry, milady. You're still well and set for a hurricane of adventures."

He laughed at his own joke and Downpour refused to give him the satisfaction of reacting.

"Jupiter wanted to destroy all data regarding the mission," Lovecraft continued, after catching his breath. "He's sort of pissed about it. You know how prideful he is. Plus we had Timberwolf and Merlin with us. It could have been a disaster."

"You didn't, though," Downpour noted, taking a seat on the lone chair in the room. "You didn't destroy the data."

"Because it's stupid. You plan this whole elaborate attack and then you go in there like they were expecting you. It felt like a death trap. Of course we need to keep everything about it."

Downpour did not like the implications of that.

"I wouldn't go that far," Lovecraft said, seeming to follow his train of thoughts before exclaiming something in-game. "Eros would have tracked down a spy by now."

When Downpour did not respond, Lovecraft went on, "Four years ago, you were sent for a mission on the Crown Initiative as well. The directors have been substantially secretive about it that all of us knew you basically failed."

Downpour frowned.

"It was the first failure in a long time so we understood the hush," Lovecraft mentioned in a tone that said he was wearing a shit-eating grin. Downpour did not look at him to confirm. "But then another mission on the Crown Initiative was given to four of us, and we still failed. So _I,_ being the only one with a working brain in that team on the mission, would definitely try to research about it. And since _you_ took on the Crown Initiative before, it was only logical you did the same thing. See? No code-raping needed."

"Fuck off."

Lovecraft laughed again. "How much do you remember from your mission?" he asked.

"Not much," Downpour admitted, feeling disappointed at himself. "It’s been four years. I've been to a lot of missions after that, and I never liked cluttering my memory files."

Lovecraft nodded. "Dude, no one blames you. I barely remember what happened a few days ago. I tried to archive most of my memories, but we need Eros to retrieve them."

It's safer to declutter the memory files, as well. Their employers did not know they hire the same assassins to fuck each other over, so a cleaner slate was better in their line of work.

"Anyway, I think it's better if we clarify some terms first. About the Crown Initiative and the traditions of the Royal family."

"What of the Royal family?" Downpour asked.

Lovecraft swore at his screen, threatening some death or the other of some in-game character Downpour did not care to know, and Downpour was sure he was never going to have his complete attention. He crossed the room, plucked the Switch from Lovecraft and pointed a pistol right at his nose before he can even complain.

Lovecraft only looked annoyed, sitting up. "Seriously? You're aiming your gun at a cyborg. Seriously?"

Downpour rethought his decision, then aimed the gun at Lovecraft's Switch.

"Whoah, buddy, slow down," Lovecraft said with genuine panic in his voice, raising both his hands. "We can talk about this."

"Then talk!" Downpour pressed his gun closer to the device that had Lovecraft spluttering and declaring a surrender.

Lovecraft sighed, righting his position on the bed. "The Royal Family do not bear children who will inherit their power as Royalty. It is a tradition that they offer their constituents a chance for the inheritance. They have a pool of chosen candidates who will undergo training under the Royalty and then, as the story goes, kill each other until only one rightful ruler remains."

"Like a Battle Royale."

"Sans the dystopia," Lovecraft agreed with a grin, appreciating the reference and the pun. He continued on a much graver note, "Your mission was to stop the Crown Initiative."

"Which is to say to kill all the candidates to the throne."

"The _tradition_ ," Lovecraft stated, "is _not_ the Crown Initiative." He paused, waiting for Downpour who only stared at him blankly. "You're not even the least bit surprised?"

Downpour shrugged. "I failed the mission, remember? I pieced some of the information together, obviously. I killed everyone but I still failed. There's more to the mission than 'kill everyone'."

Lovecraft looked at him for a long moment, searching, calculating with his one good eye. Something was set in his features, the way his lips pressed to a line, the way he remained still, even his chest unheaving, waiting. He must have not found what he was looking for in Downpour's face because he flipped over his eye-patch and activated his cybernetic left eye.

"You don't mind running that by me again, don't you?" Lovecraft asked, tone devoid of teasing. Clipped. Dangerous. Anticipating.

Hungry.

The iris of his left eye was blue with the cybernetic enhancements and it winked at Downpour with excited malice.

Lovecraft would torture the truth out of Downpour when it came to that point.

"I killed all the candidates to the throne," Downpour said with as much certainty he could muster. "Not one of them left alive."

Lovecraft's lip twitched, then he was frowning. He looked… disappointed. "You're telling the truth."

"Why should I lie about it?" Downpour scoffed.

"Something's not adding up," Lovecraft muttered, but then the light on his room turned red before he can finish that thought.

There was a yelp outside his door and a yelling that was too muffled to distinguish who it was from.

"I told you never to fucking eavesdrop on me, Hurricane!" Lovecraft yelled, but Downpour doubted it was loud enough to carry over the walls of the room.

Hurricane screamed something back in response, still muffled.

Lovecraft laughed, gone was bloodlust in his eyes, replaced by mirth and a lot of annoyance. The light in the room blinked and returned to normal. "I don't want to deal with him tonight. Can I have my baby back?"

It took a second for Downpour to realize he was talking about his Switch resting on Downpour's leg beside his pistol. He handed it over, Lovecraft snatching it quickly as if Downpour would threaten him again.

With Lovecraft distracted, Downpour left the room.

He was surprised to find Hurricane still there, but it was not because he had a choice.

Downpour chuckled. "Serves you right."

Hurricane glared at him but it only made him look even more pitiful, stuck to wall by magnets his eavesdropping probably activated, splayed like a starfish. His toes barely reached the floor, his legs spread apart, and he dangled there like a fish left to dry in the sunlight. Lovecraft really had his way with machines. Downpour wondered if he had this approved by Eros. Or if they should line the building with traps like this one. Just in case.

"I was looking for you," Hurricane said, still glaring, but not quite the tiger gaze. Not quite.

"Because of Onyx?"

Hurricane narrowed his gaze, and ah, there it was. "What did he do this time?"

"Nothing," Downpour replied, shaking his head. "I'll leave him to do whatever he wants."

"Help me down?"

Downpour pretended to consider. "No. I think I like you helpless like this."

Hurricane raised an eyebrow. "Kinky-AAH _SHIT SHIT SHIT!"_ His eyes snapped close, cheek pressing on the wall, and his whole body braced uselessly against the magnetic restraints holding strong when Downpour fired his gun right in the middle of his spread legs, a few inches below his crotch.

"What? You go on a mission where you could possibly have died but you squeal like a goose when a gun is fired at you?"

Hurricane did not offer a response to that, only gaped at Downpour.

"Fuck you and your fucking kinks, Downpour!" he heard Lovecraft yell from inside the room loud and clear.

Downpour had the sudden urge to take Hurricane right then just to spite Lovecraft, but the surprise gunshot probably did nothing to set up a sexy mood. Not that Downpour would know.

He shrugged, feeling a little merciful.

"Release him, Lovecraft. Or I'll ask Eros deny your rights to the delivery services. I know you're waiting for the Animal Crossing version of the Switch."

There was an uncharacteristic squeak from inside the room, and Hurricane splatted on the floor like a sad forgotten pizza slice the next second. He groaned, flipping over, lying flat to look up at Downpour.

"I would try to get up because I miss you but I kinda like the view from down here."

Downpour walked away but not fast enough to escape hearing another round of swearing from Lovecraft. Hurricane scrambled to catch up to him.

"I know you missed me, too. You don't even have to deny it. I can feel it in my gut. You thought about me every second I was gone."

Downpour regretted every single second of silence he took for granted while Hurricane was gone.

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?" he asked, pausing in his step at the junction of the building where they should separate. Hurricane's room was on the other direction, but Downpour knew Hurricane did not want to sleep yet.

Hurricane looked at him with the gaze Downpour hated more than Lovecraft's cybernetic eye.

"Only if you mean it." Hurricane's answering grin was a challenge.

Downpour was not above looking away. Hurricane laughed as Downpour took the route to his own room, scurrying after his tail. "How was the mission?" he asked because annoying as Hurricane was, Downpour just had to indulge him.

"Fun. Rex got knocked out half-way so I hid him before continuing on my own. He caught up much, much later but he missed most of the action."

"Ugh. I would hate him for a week then. He would be _so_ dramatic about it."

"His recovery time was a little slow," Hurricane said thoughtfully. "But please don't tell him I told you that."

Downpour snickered. He won't, but he appreciated the blackmail material.

Hurricane continued to talk about the mission, how he and Rex worked well together despite not being able to train together a lot. Downpour knew the kid had a lot of potential, being the one bearing the latest version of the code. Hurricane talking about it was only a confirmation of it.

Downpour let Hurricane talk some more even as he stopped in front of his room. Hurricane did not seem to notice, or did not care, and just regaled about the mission and everything that happened in between. Hurricane loved doing analytics, he would usually have cameras installed into his gadgets to record parts of the mission so he can get back to them afterwards and see how he could improve. Downpour already expected to be invited to one now that Hurricane had returned.

"So? What's with Onyx looking for me?" Hurricane asked.

Downpour shrugged. "Escort mission for Jupiter's meeting with the Andromeda leaders."

"Politics." Hurricane smiled wryly.

"I know."

"He wanted me to go?"

"Sort of."

"Politics," Hurricane repeated, tone dry, leaning back on the wall across Downpour, eyes upwards like he was looking for something. "Downpour, what do you plan on doing after this?"

Downpour frowned. He was sure that one date was enough to satisfy Hurricane for at least another month.

"What's with that frown?" Hurricane laughed, but it tapered off against the walls of the building. "I don’t mean today. I meant after… everything. After you gave everything to Pleiades and there's nothing left to give. What after that?"

This part of the building where the living quarters were situated had always been quiet, some form of reprieve from all of the working and hunting and training and intelligence gathering, and in these hours of the night, it gave way to thoughts Downpour never liked getting into.

Like a future he can never have.

"I think you can get into music," Hurricane continued when Downpour did not answer. "Maybe produce some tracks of your own. Maybe I can get into choreography and we can do collabs."

"You would be a good dancer," Downpour said before he can stop himself. But now that Hurricane planted it in his head, he can draw up an image of Hurricane in a small studio, dancing off into the night.

"I think I would look hot."

Downpour glared at him, but said nothing else. He would let Hurricane dream. Hurricane had that option. He did not.

"It's your _I'm Not Human So I Don't Deserve Human Normalness_ face again," Hurricane said, and he quickly cut into Downpour's space, pressing a finger to smoothen a crease that appeared on Downpour's forehead. "You can have a future out there, Downpour, if you'll allow it."

Downpour opened his mouth to argue but Hurricane beat him into speaking. "It's easy for me to say, because I’m human? Cut the crap. Even if you're not human, and I'm not saying you're not, no one else but you knows. So you can go around being human around humans who don't know your background. Hm? Genius notion, don't you think?"

"I don't even know why I'm having this conversation with you," Downpour muttered.

"Rex just put it in my head with all his bright-eyed wondering," Hurricane said with a sheepish smile, hands in his pockets like he was preventing them from roaming too much. "And I thought I kinda want a future outside this life, too."

Downpour looked at him. "You-," he started slowly, "Are paid thousands in dollars per mission and you can have any future you want, and…"

_You want it with me?_

"You want to be a choreographer?"

Hurricane shrugged. "I can be a hired gun on the side, too. I want to keep my options open."

Downpour did it without thinking, like he did most of his attacks. It was simple: a quick small flick of the wrist which brought a knife to his hand. Both his hands were on his sides, and Hurricane was still standing so close that he would not have seen it, but when Downpour thrusted his knife to stab him, Hurricane caught his arm laughing.

"Oh _god_ , he was right," Hurricane breathed before continuing laughing. " _Fuck,_ he said you will stab me." He breathed again then laughed again. "And you _did_ stab me. _God_ , that's hilarious."

"What?" Downpour was so surprised that he let Hurricane take his knife from him.

"Onyx said you would stab me tonight if I got too cozy."

" _What?_ "

Hurricane took a deep breath and steadied himself. He leaned on his side next to Downpour against the wall, flipping over the knife to offer the hilt to Downpour. With the knife safely tucked away, Hurricane crossed his arms and smiled. "Onyx already talked to me about the escort mission," Hurricane said. "He didn't tell me to convince you or anything. He just asked me to go with them. Finny and Merlin were part of the roster. Omega, too."

"Yeah. He's back. I was going to tell you," Downpour said.

Hurricane winked at him. "Must be one hell of a bounty-hunt if it took him that long, but thanks. Since Omega was going to be there and I missed hanging out with him, I thought it was going to be fun. I told Onyx you wouldn't go just because I was going."

That made Downpour crack a small smile despite himself.

"Then he said to talk to you about anything. To get cozy. And to watch out for a knife if I did."

"He did– what? What the _fuck_ ," Downpour gasped, unsure if he was angry or just astonished. He thought he was unpredictable enough, but Onyx had predicted how his reaction just with a series of hints given to Hurricane. How was Downpour going to move now?

"What's the plan?" Hurricane asked, looking far too cheerful than the situation called for.

"He's playing with me, but he also has a plan on his own." Downpour ran his hand over his hair, pulling into his scalp, wishing the tiny pinpricks would focus his senses. Hurricane only chuckled at him. "What?" he asked, all his thoughts and worries and anxieties focusing into the glare he directed to Hurricane who laughed harder at the look on his face.

"It's just new to see you all strung up like this."

Downpour mirrored Hurricane's position, filling himself with easier breaths.

"Just to be clear. I'm not going just because you're going."

Hurricane grinned at him, too bright at this time of night. "Sure, Downpour."

"I'm going because Onyx has this grand scheme of things plan. It must be important that he needs me in it, right?"

"Right."

Hurricane was still grinning at him in a way he found offensive, but Hurricane was fast enough to grab his arm before he can make another reach for a knife– or a gun if he felt like it. Hurricane laughed again when he saw the bewilderment written on his face.

"Why are you so eager to kill me?" he asked.

"Because you're annoying!" Downpour surprised himself when he answered with a laugh of his own.

"You have to do better than that then."

Hurricane always had this look on his face when he had a thought in his head he will never voice out, even when his face always gave him away. Eros called it his DAD face (Dreaming About Downpour face). While Downpour never really see how his expression could be anything more than whimsical, Hurricane always pulled back with a small smile, held himself an arm's length, and went on his way.

This was a more determined face, more determined than he ever saw in Hurricane.

"Downpour, I-"

"Yes," Downpour stated in a hurried breath. "Yes, I did."

Hurricane blinked, confused for a second before his eyes cleared with a dawning realization. His smile was tight, small, but maybe genuine.

"I knew it." Hurricane took a step back, forcing his hands to his side. The expression melted into something of disappointment, a little hurt, but masked, pulled together by that small smile. He took a step back, then another, then another, setting his direction towards his room without looking away from Downpour. "Good night, Downpour."

"See you later," Downpour said and disappeared inside his room without checking to see if Hurricane tripped on his feet as he hoped.

(He did.)

When Downpour entered Eros's lab the next day, Eros did not appreciate the disturbance, huffing as soon the doors opened. Downpour perched on the table behind the computers, making himself comfortable while Eros did what Eros did best: sit in front of his computer and type away.

"Lovecraft already asked for the archives so I'm assuming you're here for something else," Eros said, not looking away from his computers.

Downpour shrugged with his hands even though Eros had his back towards him. "I'm going to the escort mission."

"Good for you." He continued with his frantic typing without a glance at Downpour's direction.

"That's it?"

"Did you want me to say 'Good luck'? You hate me wishing you luck on your missions."

"I thought you would stop me."

"Did you want me to?" Downpour did not answer when the typing paused. "I would if I didn't trust you. You already know why I don't want you to go. If you're still going despite that, it means you already thought this through." Eros whirled his chair to face Downpour, his face set. "You don't have spare shells. Don't die on me."

Downpour smiled. "Roger, boss."

A familiar grin sprouted in Eros's face, something mischievous, something Downpour always saw on him. But the familiarity rang a certain annoyance in him when he recognized that it matched the one Onyx always wore. "So, are you guys linked now?"

"The briefing and the sims would be done later so it's not activated, but yeah, we're linked." Downpour tried for a nonchalance even though he knew Eros can see through him. "We were linked before."

The smile did not waver. "Why are you really here, Hoonie?"

The screens blinked black with Eros's focus solely on him, and Downpour saw his smudged reflection on the matte glass. He looked small, curled into himself with his legs in a lotus pose on a table in front of Eros. Eros rolled his chair forward to draw closer to him and settled himself when he's an arm's length away.

"Hm?" he prodded when Downpour did not deign him a response. "Is there a problem with your link with Hurricane?"

"Is there?" Downpour asked back, his tone a toe between nerves and a challenge. "I know I asked before, and you already checked before, but is there a possibility that there's a problem with the link somehow–"

"Because you think you're responding differently." The grin he wore was thinned in fondness and a little exasperation that Downpour knew whatever he answered with would be cause for more of Eros's teasing. He stayed silent. "Have you ever considered that your response to him is the most calculated you have ever been, and the only reason you're responding wrong is because you're holding yourself back?"

"You told me to be careful with him," Downpour defended.

"I did," Eros said, tone apologetic. "And I linked him to you so you can keep an eye on him, and you did."

"I did," Downpour agreed.

"So?"

Downpour hated that Eros wanted him to spell out everything, but he resigned himself to do so. That was how Eros worked. He sighed. "What do I do? How should I act around him?"

Eros laughed. "You can say you're in love with him, Hoonie, it's fine."

"I'm not!" Eros only laughed harder. "I'm not!" he insisted.

"Okay, _fine_ , whatever you say." Eros pressed a hand to his chest to calm himself. "If you're not in love with him, what's bothering you?"

"What's it like…" Downpour took a deep breath, plunging into the dive knowing Eros would not appreciate it otherwise. "Being in love."

"Are you asking me because you’re in love, or because you think I am?" Eros questioned, a brow raised.

"Jupiter. And Onyx," Downpour blurted, half-expecting Eros to lash at him. The other half of his expectations was for Eros to blush or splutter. Eros did nothing of sort, one to always break expectations of him, and only smiled, looking even more amused. "They're yours, aren't they?"

"Love isn't ownership, dear Jihoonie." Downpour frowned. "But that's a good observation considering you're the last person I would expect to confront me about my relationship with both Jupiter and Onyx."

Downpour refused to tell him that it was Hurricane who came up with the observation. It was true that it was Downpour who did the confrontation, anyway.

"Hurricane's observations, I assume."

Downpour frowned deeper.

Eros breathed, sounding tired. "Did you come here to hear what you already know? You're different, Jihoon. We're all different from everyone else."

Downpour leaned forward, comforted by the familiar words. "We're not human."

"We're not," Eros confirmed. "But that should not stop you from living. The poor boy has been tailing you since forever, maybe next time he makes a move, you should stop putting your walls up."

Eros chuckled at the little wrinkle that formed in between Downpour's brows. "It's not always going to end up in a disaster, I promise. We can talk more about it when you come back from escorting Jupiter, okay?"

"Okay." Downpour took a breath. At least, there's something he can look forward to after the little mission. He still found the mission unnecessary since he felt like he was being used as a pawn for some trap Onyx laid out. For what the trap was, Downpour did not know.

Eros winked and whirled back to face his screens. "Keep him safe for me."

"Roger, boss."

Since it was a simple escort mission, the briefing was kept short and the mission simulation afterwards was only done twice. They were only made to familiarize the location of the exits and all possible ways the meeting could go wrong. This was not the first meeting Andromeda arranged for so their preparations were more for formality than necessity but as assassins, they were trained to plan and make backups of their backup plans.

Once their links were activated, they were deployed.

Their meeting place was a well-known hotel in the middle of Seoul. Efficient of Andromeda to plan it that way, Downpour thought. The place was densely populated to make sure there were eyes and ears to witness anything that may go awry, ensuring some layer of protection for any attendee from any of the branches.

Still, Pleiades had its own safety nets.

_(Onyx) Infinite, are you in position?_

Onyx's voice buzzed in Downpour's ear. It was only Downpour's disciplined training from all the years of suppressing emotion during missions that contained the groan inside his throat. Onyx did not come with them in site, but he would oversee their mission through cameras installed in their clothing and dictate how the mission would progress.

Downpour wondered if this was training for a bigger mission in the future. If Onyx was to oversee something else…

 _Aye_ , Finny confirmed.

 _(Onyx) Giving everyone a look on Infinite's view from his sniping location_.

An image of hotel's penthouse appeared in Downpour's mind from where Infinite was filming through his cameras. His sniping location was perfect.

_(Onyx) Merlin?_

Hurricane's murmured counting remained a sort of white noise that occupied the silence while they waited for Merlin's response. Downpour looked beside him. Hurricane was tapping a different finger as he counted, but he was looking outside the window of their car. Was he counting his guns? His bullets?

 _(Merlin) All security cams infiltrated. Sensors will be in your control when we enter the hotel, Onyx_.

_(Onyx) Thank you, Merlin._

_(Omega) Arriving in the location in T minus 5 minutes._

_(Onyx) Thank you, Omega_. _Everyone, stay alert._

Downpour refused to roll his eyes and expend his energy in reacting to Onyx useless fussing.

Their car stopped at a red light, following the one Omega and Jupiter were riding, both vehicles driven by trainees they picked for the mission. The ride had so far been quiet, Hurricane's continuous flirting from the briefing and simulations muted by the professional air their mission casted on them. Downpour wondered if his flirting had increased by a margin, or if he was just more aware of it from his conversation with Eros previously.

"It's like practice for our own mission after this," Hurricane said after their second simulation. "I'm excited."

"Supposing we don't die in this one," Downpour quirked, and Hurricane laughed as he followed him into the weapons room.

Downpour expected Hurricane to scurry off to find his preferred knives and guns when they entered, but the other assassin continued to be two steps behind him, keeping quiet. "What?" Downpour snapped.

"Nothing. Can I kiss you?"

It was bold, even for Hurricane. Downpour cocked the gun he had in his hand and was impressed when Hurricane did not flinch even when the gun's metallic _clicks_ sounded like explosions in the silence of the room. "Will you stop staring at me if I agree?" Downpour challenged.

Hurricane opened and closed his mouth a few times, weighing his answer. "I can't promise that, but I'll try my best to tone it down."

Downpour packed extra ammo into his pockets. "Tone it down and we'll see."

Hurricane had not glanced at him since.

Jupiter alighted their car first followed by Omega. When their car replaced Jupiter's from where it was previously parked, Downpour and Hurricane got off, as well. They grabbed their suitcases from the trunk, heavy with weapons they may or may not need later. Omega was posing as Lee Sihoo, a wealthy son of a wealthy man they did not have to name as long as they had money to book an expensive room in the hotel, and the rest of them were his bodyguards.

The sensors did not blink when the suitcases entered the lobby. The hotel personnel only gave them smiles and warm welcomes they returned with polite nods of their own. Jupiter confirmed their reservation, Hurricane refused the offer to be lead to their room, and they were in the elevator in no time.

Pleiades booked them the room on the floor below their supposed meeting place for extra measures of safety. Merlin arrived even earlier than they did to scout the place and infiltrate the system, and their room, likely a replica of their meeting room above, would confirm their previous simulation and prepare them even more for the actual meeting later.

All four of them immediately scoured their room for bugs upon entering, cameras or recorders, looking through ceilings, walls and furniture.

 _(Infinite) Onyx, we have movement on the floor_.

_(Onyx) Confirming through the cameras. It's a hotel personnel._

All four assassins did not falter even when there was knock on their door.

"Housekeeping!" a chirpy voice announced from outside the room.

_(Merlin) Onyx, that's a negative on the housekeeper._

_(Onyx) I'm sorry?_

_(Merlin) I have all housekeepers accounted for in the hotel. That one might be… Keep your eyes open._

_(Onyx) Infinite, an update on the status of the meeting room?_

_(Infinite) Negative. The penthouse is empty and there is no one going to the penthouse._

_(Merlin) Negative from the hotel receptionist as well._

_(Onyx) That's odd. They should at least be arriving by now_.

"Housekeeping? Should we return later?"

Downpour turned to catch Hurricane's eye. If there was someone charming enough to distract whoever the hell was outside the door, it should be Hurricane. Omega was his own beautiful face, but since he was playing the important person, he should not be opening any doors. Omega will be playing Jupiter later in the meeting as well, to protect Jupiter's identity.

Downpour did not catch Hurricane's eye. There was a sound of a body falling to the ground and all of them turned to find Jupiter on the ground, blood pooling on the carpet from his head. Omega rushed forward to assess the damage, carefully turning Jupiter's prone body, while the rest of them grabbed for their weapons.

The door opened. Downpour shot the intruder right in the middle of her forehead, but the intruder only looked at him curiously, undeterred by the new hole on her head.

"It seems you do have a need of housekeeping, good sirs."

 _(Onyx) What the_ fuck _is happening? Can anyone give me a good visual?_

 _(Merlin) Someone deactivated the cameras from the floor_.

_(Infinite) They have a sniper! Currently identifying location._

_(Onyx) FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!_

Downpour stepped forward to put himself between Jupiter and the intruder. He did not want to check to see if Jupiter was alright. He had to be alright. He _had_ to be.

"The weapons are not necessary," the intruder said, her voice light even with a bullet-sized hole in head through which Downpour could see the other side of the room. She was a short woman in hotel colors every other personnel was wearing, but her eyes were unnaturally glassy and her smile with dangerous innocence. "We only wanted your attention. It seems that Pleiades does exceed well beyond all expectations. All these preparations for a meeting? Outstanding!"

_(Onyx) I need an update on Seungcheol! What's his status?!_

It was imperative that they did not succumb to the chaos of the situation to use Jupiter's real name and official codename. "Coups is down," Omega reported, tone flat and empty.

_(Onyx) His L-pill?_

"Unused."

_(Onyx) FUCK!_

_(Merlin) I have no access to the security of the hotel. Onyx, it's a trap! You have to get out-_

_(Infinite) Four snipers are located. Permission to take them out, Onyx._

_(Onyx) Hurricane, questions._

"Who do you work for?" Hurricane yelled. He stood beside Downpour, his gun raised, the pair of them a worthless fence defending a dead body.

"The Crown Initiative," the intruder replied with a crooked smile. Her eyes blinked out of sync, and the way she stepped to close the door behind her was jittery. "I'm afraid I'm only a prototype. Our royal leaders believe cyborgs to be dispensable, you see. They believe the best assassins to still be humans."

"Are you working with Andromeda?" Hurricane asked again.

The intruder giggled, eerily sounding like a happy child. "Pleiades was the one who fired at Andromeda first, and we thought we are doing you a favor for meeting with you like this. We thought you might want to cooperate."

"Pleiades remains loyal to Andromeda!" Downpour declared, angry in the way he was not supposed to be during a mission.

"The Crown Initiative is uncertain as to why," the intruder stated. "After they captured and killed your little ones? They sought to destroy Pleiades to claim your shell research which the Crown Initiative is a fan of. We promise to pay a handsome amount for your research. We will not even claim it as ours. Pleiades will remain the true and rightful owners of the research. We only need to see part of it. Your friend here will likely benefit from it, will he not?"

Jupiter. Jupiter, he…

The shell technology did not work that way, Downpour knew. The server did not store the code of the assassins. It only existed as a bridge for the flow and transport of data and communication, not for storage. Eros's lethal pill served to kill an assassin as a last resort to missions that were bound to fail, and the pill will upload all of the assassin's data to the server for temporary storage before they will be transferred to a new shell. The L-pill was necessary.

The direct shot to Jupiter's head prevented him from using his pill.

"Andromeda has nothing to with this attack?" Omega asked. He, too, had joined the ranks of his team, all three pistols aimed uselessly at a cyborg who will not be damaged by their attacks.

"Of course not, silly boy!" the intruder exclaimed. "Andromeda has fallen."

_(Onyx) Downpour. Give them hell._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All 13 boys present and accounted for! The story is so plot heavy so I apologize for the lack of soonhoon. I swear I wrote this because of the sexy soonhoon chemistry but it spiraled out of control, so I hope you bear with all the plot technicalities we have to go through.
> 
> To help with the codenames, here are the boys and their other nicknames in order of their appearance in the story. (No one asked, but just in case, Boss is Pledis Boss):  
> Downpour (Wormin)  
> Luna  
> Eros  
> Merlin  
> Jupiter (Coups)  
> Timberwolf (Pup)  
> Rex  
> Nero  
> Infinite (Finny)  
> Hurricane  
> Lovecraft  
> Onyx  
> Omega
> 
> See you guys hopefully soon! Please take care of yourselves and stay healthy!  
> Chapter title and summary from [Good To Me by Seventeen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFV7FMNWh0I)


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